First Grow, please take a look

[newgroer420]

Hey all,

This is my first grow and I've done about all the reading I can to prepare for this, however, it would be nice to get some feedback from real people with a little experience. For now I'm just looking to validate that my soil mix is going to work. Take a look and please tell me what you think:

60% Top soil
25% Perlite
15% Worm Castings

w/ 1Tbs/gal Espoma Dried blood 12-0-0
1 TBS/gal Espoma Garden Tone for vegetable 4-6-6
2 Tbs/ gal Espoma Dolomite lime

Thoughts, suggestions, comments please!! I'm looking for something simple that will get the job done.

 

[crazyhorse]

I myself am a new grower, I used organic soil, perlite and bat guano, 50/50 with some bat chit. I use fish goo to feed with. make sure you dont feed nutes for the first three weeks or so. the dirt and worm chit have enough nutes for the first weeks of life. My plants started Jan 15, and there around 8 to 9 inches tall and starting to alternate nodes, yippee, time to go to the 12/12. Man I cant wait, there a great dark green healthy color. Good luck to you and dont over do anything or over analyze the plants

 

[BagseedSamurai]

Hey all,


60% Top soil
25% Perlite
15% Worm Castings

w/ 1Tbs/gal Espoma Dried blood 12-0-0
1 TBS/gal Espoma Garden Tone for vegetable 4-6-6
2 Tbs/ gal Espoma Dolomite lime

What kind of "top soil"? Ive noticed, even with a good bit of perlite, some supposedly good soils are still too clay-ey, or just outright filled with stupid crap! I once found half of a rotting pencil in a bag of cheap dirt. I now make my own organic soils. My recipe is generally not very specific or detailed, and I usually screen even good store bought soils with some coarse chicken wire. But im in an apartment now so big displaysare out..haha. Heres my recipe..

.5 part vermiculite
2 parts perlite
2 parts potting soil. (Ive found even MG organic is moderate. Not the best, but not bad. Ive found MG has some non organics that are VERY good.)
0.05 Garden Lime (adjusts Ph, if i have it)
.25 Meal of some sort (get the little buggers a good start)

for popping seeds I mostly use:
Half verm and Half perlite in plugs. Sometimes just potting soil. Depends on my mood and what im growing. I never pre-soak seeds. I just wet the soil and pop them in. Generally ive found Sativa seeds require less ferts, especially young, while indica's can get REAL hungry.

So, to me, looks like your fairly close to on par! Keep us updated.



The family. NYCD, DJS TB, ECSD

 

[newgroer420]

Thanks guys! I will definitely keep posting as I go.

 

[ZeusOGrefugee]

whats up Newgroer?!!! Your setup so far sounds pretty good. I use Pro-mix soilless medium, after 6 grows with soil and added amendments, and I'll never go back. Just remember that u dont have to feed them for at least the first 2 weeks or so, and then start very diluted strength and work ur way up from there judging on ur plants health and growth rate. U look to have enuf nutes in ur soil for at least a month prolly, then I would give them some liquid nutes. I use EJ products and they work great. Good luck and I'll keep stoppin by...

 

[dead_stoned]

whats up Newgroer. good luck. and my philosiphy has always been K-I-S-S keep it simple stupid... no offence to you i am not trying to call you stupid just basically that i keep it simple and i produce great buds... i use promix to start and go with 1/4 strength nutes two or three weeks in depending on the plant size. just use your best judgement and dont overwater. keep a light-leak free room, steady light cycles and steady temps, just have fun with it. its relaxing to grow and care for your plants.

 

[newgroer420]

Thanks! Simple is def what I'm looking for here. Just to keep everyone up-to-date, I soaked my first 10 seeds (willies wonder x bb) overnight, and after a day in moist paper towels, I came home to find 9 out of 10 with root tips showing!! Pretty psyched. So into the soil they went. Hopefully I'll have some good looking seedlings to post pics of in a little bit. I have another batch of seeds (golden skunk) that I will germ as soon as these ones show signs of life in my soil. Keep the advice and words of encouragement coming.

 

[newgroer420]

Oh and, Dead and Zues, do you add anything to the promix (perlite, lime, anything??) or just plant in it straight out of the bag? It sounds like it might be the stuff to go with when I'm ready to mix up a big batch and transplant.

 

[dead_stoned]

Oh and, Dead and Zues, do you add anything to the promix (perlite, lime, anything??) or just plant in it straight out of the bag? It sounds like it might be the stuff to go with when I'm ready to mix up a big batch and transplant.

most people do both lime and perlite... i am just too broke for that.. i use it straight out of the bag and broken up of course... never use the pressed clumps it comes in... it causes nutrient problems. i go with it because it is a neutral mix and they only way to mess up the soil is to do something to it. i have great success with my grows and thats all i do.

 

[newgroer420]

Ok, cool. I found out today that the local garden supply carries promix, except I couldn't buy any because it was still frozen! I have a little while before I need it, so I guess I'll just have to check back.

 

[aeric]

Get the promix if u want and let it thaw in your garage or whatever. You need it now if u used that much topsoil. I made the same mistake on my first grow because topsoil was really cheap compared to all those "potting soils". Topsoil is probably not sterilized and best for an outdoor grow. If you are talking about the promix bales of pure peat you need to add perlite and lime (great recipes in the organic forum), along with your Espoma and worm castings. If you're talking about the ready made promix potting soil there are many different mixes but they all need a little more perlite and have plenty of lime, but you could add a little more if u wanted. Always wear a dustmask and gloves when mixing soil!

 

[FlyvAgaric]

Whats up newGroer... What kind of light are you using right now ?

 

[newgroer420]

Unfortunately space is an issue for me, so I'm growing under 2 x 125watt CFLs. All the walls are lined in mylar, so hopefully that will help. I know that my yield will probably not be the greatest, but as long as I get some decent quality bud out of it, I'll be happy.

Also I decided not to go with the top soil for popping the seeds. I just bought a bag of seed starter. It sounded like a good mix, without any added foods. The stuff is nice and light, not sticky at all when wet.

 

[newgroer420]

9 of 10 seedlings have popped through!! They're all looking great, nice and green. I will post pics soon (my friend borrowed my digital cam so I need to get it back).

Right now my humidity is low in the room, so I may have to go buy a humidifier tomorrow. If anyone has any ideas how I can boost it in the meantime, I have dish of water in there with a fan blowing on it, but that has not seemed to raise it high enough.

 

[newgroer420]

Ok so I was able to buy some promix today. All 10 are above soil now, with the biggest ones approaching 2in tall. They are really growing fast! I have them in ~3in peat pots right now. Several of the pots have a single root growing out the bottom. I bought 1.4L pots to transplant them into. How soon should I transplant??

 

[dead_stoned]

what you dont want to do is what happened to me on my first grow... i let the trees get root locked in the containers they were growing in... the rule of thumb is a plant will grow its roots equal to the height of the plant. so basically when the sprouts are the same size or just a little bigger then the pot then take them up to the next step. one sign to watch out for is red stems and red striped stems... now some strains will have them but not many. if you do get them it could mean you are root locked... i think it also means a nitrogen deficency... look at my first grow there are some really good tips from people there on transplanting. you should be good for a week or maybe two but it all depends on how fast your babies are growing.